The present invention relates to a print data generating apparatus, a print data generating method and a program which have the function of generating print data from image data such as a printer driver, and more particularly generate print data on a partial image obtained by cutting out a part of an image.
In recent years, for example, an image obtained by photographing by means of a digital camera is photoprinted by using a recording apparatus such as an ink jet printer. The photoprinting is mainly carried out in a comparatively small paper size such as 4″×6″ size, 5″×7″ size or a postcard size. For example, large-size photoprinting for a poster is carried out with a print paper having a large size in some cases. A glossy paper is used for the photoprinting and is expensive. In the case in which the large size printing is carried out, furthermore, a large amount of ink is also consumed.
The quality of completion of the photoprinting is greatly varied depending on a print condition. For example, in a printer driver attached to a printer, it is possible to select a print quality (a resolution) from 5760 dpi, 2880 dpi, 1440 dpi and 720 dpi, to select a gamma value for determining a contrast from a plurality of set values, and furthermore, to select any of a plurality of intents for determining a tone. For this reason, a trial print is carried out to determine the print condition.
In the case in which the trial print is carried out and photoprinting is performed in a small paper size, however, a price of the paper and the amount of consumption of ink are not great problems even if several sheets are printed. In the case in which the photoprinting is carries out in a large size such as a poster, an expensive photographic paper having a large size and a large amount of ink are consumed. Consequently, a photoprinting cost is very high.
For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-156327 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-321843 have disclosed a printer capable of carrying out a draft print before a real print. By carrying out the draft print, it is possible to generally imagine a result of the real print.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-110000 has disclosed a photographic image printing apparatus for displaying a photographic image on a monitor of a personal computer and setting a trimming frame in the photographic image thus displayed, and cutting out the photographic image through a trimming frame, thereby printing the photographic image. According to the apparatus, it is possible to trim a desirable portion from the image, thereby printing the trimming image. Therefore, it is possible to carry out the trial print over a part of the image.
Furthermore, Japanese Paten Publication No. 2005-62320 (Paragraphs [0040] to [0049], FIGS. 2 to 8) has disclosed a trial print creating system for scanning a photographic film and displaying a read image on display means, setting a region to be subjected to a trial print from an image over a screen of the display means, extracting a trimming image specified by the region, and exposing, developing and printing an image having the trimming images arranged onto a roll-shaped photosensitive material. In the system, trimming means operably displays a frame having a predetermined shape or a plurality of markers on the display means and sets a region surrounded by the frame or a region surrounding a line connecting the markers as a trial print region. Moreover, at least one of information for specifying the trimming image and information about the print condition of the trimming image is synthesized to carry out the trial print corresponding to the trimming image. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-242640 has disclosed a face detecting apparatus for detecting a face from a photographic image.
As in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-156327 and the Japanese Patent Publication No. 8-321843, however, even if the draft print is carried out in order to perform the trial print, a print resolution is low and a pixel is rough. Therefore, it is impossible to decide the picture quality of a real print. In addition to the print resolution to be set to the real print, it is impossible to determine an optimum print condition (particularly, a picture quality condition) for the real print, for example, a gamma value or an intent. For this reason, even if the real print is carried out on the optimum picture quality condition decided by seeing the print picture quality of the draft print, a desirable print picture quality cannot be obtained in the real print.
As in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-110000, moreover, a part of an image can be trimmed (cut out) and trial printed. However, a print image is printed by executing a magnification change processing of enlarging and reducing an image to have a print size corresponding to a paper size to be used. Therefore, there is a problem in that an equivalent print picture quality to the real print cannot be obtained if a magnification of the magnification change processing is varied between the real print and the trial print. In the case in which the magnification change processing is carried out at a different magnification from the magnification of the real print to perform the trial print, for example, the conditions of various image processings such as a smoothing processing to be started in a process for converting a resolution of an original image into a set print resolution (for example, an interpolating processing condition of a pixel and a thinning rate of the pixel) are changed corresponding to a variation in a magnification even if the print is carried out at an identical print resolution. As a result, an apparent print picture quality is coarse or dense. Thus, there is a problem in that the same print picture quality as that of the real print cannot be obtained. As a matter of course, a trimming image size may be regulated in such a manner that a magnification of the trial print is coincident with that of the real print. However, it is the most difficult task to regulate a size through a manual operation, which is actually impossible. For this reason, conventionally, there is only a method of carrying out the trial print by using a large size paper used in the real print.
Referring to a technique described in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-62320, moreover, a scan image has a predetermined resolution. Therefore, a picture quality of a photograph obtained by exposing, developing and printing the image onto a photosensitive paper depends on a resolution of a scanner, and as a matter of course, is different from a picture quality of a photograph in the real print which is obtained by an exposure and development using a photographic film. For this reason, it is possible to determine the print conditions (exposing and developing conditions) of the real print by seeing the picture quality of the photograph for the trial print; which is not sufficient. In the technique descried in the Japanese Patent Publication No. 2005-62320, moreover, it is possible to obtain a desirable picture quality of a photograph if the optimum exposing and developing conditions are determined. In case of an apparatus for generating print data from image data by an image processing as in a printer such as an ink jet type printer, however, there is a unique problem in that the conditions of the other image processing such as a smoothing processing are changed so that the same print picture quality as that of the real print cannot be obtained when the magnification of the magnification change processing is varied between the trial print and the real print as described above. As a result, in the case in which a photographic image having a high print quality is demanded, there is only a method of carrying out the trial print in the same print size as that in the real print.